Means for supporting shelves and analogous purposes



A. w. LAMBERT.

MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SHELVES AND ANALOGOUS PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8,1921.

Patented Dec. 20-, 1921.

3 8HEETS-SHEET 1.

A. W. LAMBERT.

MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SHELVES AND ANALOGOUS PURPOSES, APPLICATION men FEB. s, 1921.

1,400,960. Patented Dec. 1921.

3 SHEETS- T 2.

A. W. LAMBERT.

MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SHELVES AND ANALOGOUS PURPOSES.

APPLICATION EILED FEB. 8, 1921.

17,400,960, Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

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MEANS FGB SUPFORTINC-t SEELVES earn ANALUGQ'UEQ PURPOSES.

Monaco.

Application filed February a, 1922.;

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The principal object of the present in vention is to provide improved means for enabling shelving, brackets or equivalent members intended to carry, support or display books or other objects, to be adjusted in position positively with a more ample gradation than has heretofore been possible taking into consideration a given initial pitch of positioning regions. To this end the invention consists broadly in providing a support with a plurality of positioning regions differing in pitch from that of another set of positioning regions on a member to be supported, and employing a connector, separate from both the support and member to be supported, adapted to couple them together with any companion pair of positioning regions in register. In this way the minimum adjustment obtainable as also the value of a series of adjustments taken collectively is less than the pitch of the positioning regions of either the support or supported member, the arrangement func tioning after the manner of a vernier.

Other features of the invention consist in the provision of means as aforesaid in which the positioning regions are so constituted that they exert a locking action upon the connector tending to prevent accidental disconnection between the support and supported member; constructions in which the connector, after assemblage cannot ordinarily be bodily removed from the support or supported member but is only movable in relation thereto; and arrangements whereby a maximum effective. shelf space is obtainable unobstructed at the ends, the means being furthermore capable of production in a simple manner of sheet metal which may be enameled or equivalently treated.

The details are capable of being widely varied but by way of example a few arrangements will now be briefly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a horizontal section of one of such arrangements for bookshelving for in- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

Serial No. 443,353.

stance. Figs. 3 and l are similar views of another shelf supporting arrangement. Figs. o and 6 also similar views of yet another modification, Fig. 7 being a view correnond ng Fig. with the parts in a m com position. F 1g. 8 1s a view similar to of a further modification. Figs.9 and 1,0 are diagrammatic views of other modificat ons and Figs. 11 and 12 are elevations at right angles to one another of a bracket supporting arrangement. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a guiding member a, which for brevity will be hereinafter reterred to as a stanchion, may be employed hav ng a roll edge Z) adapted to receive one edge 0, which may also be more or less curled, f a bracket cl provided with a ledge c or lugs whereon a shelf can rest, the formation of the edges 7) and c aforesaid bemg such that they can be engaged with a rotary motion, as indicated by the arrow Fig. 2 after which the bracket (Z while free to slide longitudinally of the stanchion is prevented at the edge from moving laterally in relation thereto. The stanchion a 15 formed with a series of notches which may be horizontal but are advantageously inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the roll edge 6, while the bracket (5 is formed with a series of openings 9 or notches of a different pitch which may be either arranged. horizontally or inclined say in the reverse direction. In the illustration the upper edges or" the openings 9 are thus inclined. With such a construction the bracket can be retained. in any of the multi ple acjusted positions according to the invention by means of a stud, for example having heads 71/, i separated by a contracted neck or necks j, 70, adapted to lit the recesses in both the stanchion and bracket, the reads it 2' aforesaid resisting rotary movement of the bracket. The advantage of employing two contracted necks is that the neck 70 acts as head in conjunction with the head 71 to hold the stu'l snugly against the stanchion a. raised to permit the stud to be disengaged from the notches f, the head it after said disengagement can pass through the opening 9. In order that the-head a of the stud engaged with the bracket shall not project beyond the general plane of the bracket, the latter may be made of a joggled cross section, asclearly shown in Fig. 2.

Or as shown in Figs. 3 and 4: a stanchion When the bracket (Z is r and bracket formed with curled or roll edges similar or equivalent to those described may each be formed with a seriesof notches m, a of difierent pitch as before described, a connector obeing employed which has a body portion adapted to slide within the curled edge 0' of the bracket and to turn relatively thereto. A laterally projecting tongue or catch 2? on the body is thus capable of being entirely disengaged from both sets of notches m, a so that it can be moved longitudinally in relation to both thereof and reinserted into engagementwith any pair of recesses for the time being brought into register. he combination of the notches may be such that after the catch is in engagement therewith, a slight downward movement of the bracket occurs which results in a contraction of the entrance to the notch combination that resists return movement of the catch 29.

The body of the rotary and sliding catch 0, p referred to may be made by twisting a strip of flat metal into a helical form as illustrated. A portion a? ofthe bracket adjacent to the roll edge 0 may be offset in relation to the remainder thereof so that the said edge as well as that of the stanchion does not obstruct full use of the shelf, and if desired such off-set portion id may be stamped or provided with devices such as lugs d adapted to engage or cooperate with a flange a or the like upon the stanchion a which serves as a guide for the bracket.

As a further modification, which is particularly suited to existing book cases say those of wood for example, a stanchion may be employed having a longitudinally slotted cylindrical portion notched equivalently to the roll edgeof the stanchio'ns before described, and a flanged margin by which it can be attached to the book case, the complete stanchion being let in flush with the woodwork. A hollow and similarly slotted and notched member is adapted to be in sorted with an endwise movement into the said stanchion, the notches being, as in the other cases, differently pitched. The connector may be the same as, or similar to, rotary and sliding connectors already described, it also being inserted with an endwise movement into the inner hollow memher and effecting the retention as set forth. The said inner hollow member may be adapted in various ways to support a shelf, or the like, being say fitted at the upper end with a projecting lug, which lug may be of a depth suflicient to prevent it entering the various notches. Or the inner hollow member may form apart of, or be formed with, an arm whereon articles may be hung for display,

which arm may be movable in a horizontal plane.

The aforesaid further modification is not illustrated .in the accompanying drawings but will be understood from'Figs. 5 and 6 which-together with Fig. 7 show a similar modification in which however the inner hollow member referred to as well as the rotary and sliding connectors are adapted to be engaged with the stanchion withouthaving to be inserted endwise.

In this example, a is the stanchion, 7" a sliding member provided with a shelf supporting lug r for instance, and 0 a rotary and sliding connector which in this instance also is more or less tubular, the arrangement being such that whereas the parts normally occupy the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6 movement of the memberr in the direction of the arrow Fig. 6 will enable it and the connector 0 toassume the position shown in Fig. 7 where they can be disengaged from the roll edge 6 of the stanchion, to enable them to be removed and, it may be, replaced by a tubular member having a different form, without interfering with any other members associated with the stanchion.

From the foregoing examples other ways of carrying out the invention will readily suggest themselves it being possible in some cases to employ a connector 8 as shown in Fig. 8 the catch portions whereof is adapted to enter notches, or openings in bot the stanchion a and. bracket (Z. In a similar fashion any two members such as t u Figs. 9 and 10 having notches differently pitched may be secured against movement longitudinally relative to one another, whether the same be arranged vertically or otherwise, by connectors 12 Fig. 9 or 1) Fig. 10 adapted to be engaged with the required notches in any suitable way.

Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate a yet further modification of the invention, to being a 105 bracket assumed to be adjustable along the face of a fiat stanchion a under the control of screws 02, m The stanchion a has screw threaded holes a pitched equidistantly while the bracket to has a set ofholes 3 110 which the screws just fit and which are pitched equidistantly but closer together, there being in addition a slot y and a slot 3 of different lengths but the upper ends of which are of the same pitch as the holes 3 115 The arrangement is such that assuming the bracket to be adjusted by means of the screw w passed through any one of the holes 3 into any screw threaded hole a in the stanchion, then it will be found that one or other of the 120 slots p 3/ and in some cases both will be in register with another hole or holes a in the stanchion so that the bracket 11. can be additionally secured by the screw 00 or m or both.

In the same way also the bracket can be 86- 125 cured by the screws :0 :0 without employing the screw a2.

We desire it to be understood, that, as ap pears from the arrangement described, by the term stanchion any appropriate mem- 130 ber formed with a guideway such as herein referred to is intended to be employed, Whether the said member be used alone as a supporting upright or be incorporated in a companion upright, which as well as the forms of bracket and other details may be analogous to those of the various known types of library or other equipments. In the same way it is obvious that the notches or equivalent in lieu of being pitched uniformly throughout the entire length of the stanchions may be disposed in groups there along.

What I claim is 1. Means of the kind described comprising a support having a guideway, and a series of openings spaced apart with a given pitch, a member adapted to slide along such support under the control of the guideway and having a eries of openings spaced apart with a different pitch, and a member adapted to enter any pair of companion openings brought into register, substantially as described.

2. Means of the kind described, comprising a support having a guideway and a series of inclined openings of a given pitch, a member adapted to slide along such support under the control of the guideway and having a series of openings of a different pitch one edge of each of which makes an angle with the opposite edge of a corresponding opening in the support such as to form a region having an exit adapted to be contracted and a device adapted to be inserted in such a region before the movement between the support and sliding member produces the contraction aforesaid, the inserted device being ultimately locked against accidental disengagement after movement to produce the contraction is completed.

3. Means of the kind described, comprising a support having a curled edge and a series of positioning regions of a given pitch, a member also having a curled edge adapted to slide along the curled edge of the support and provided with a series of positioning regions of a difierent pitch, and a device adapted to slide within the innermost curled edge and to be turned to effect connection between any pair of companion positioning regions for the time being in register.

4. Means of the kind described, comprising a support having'a curled edge and a series of positioning regions of a given pitch, a member also having a curled edge adapted to be engaged with a sidewise movement with the curled edge of the support and to both slide and turn in the latter, such member having a series of positioning regions of a different pitch and a device adapted to slide and turn withinthe innermost curled edge of the member aforesaid and effect connection between any pair of companion positioning regions for the time being. in register.

5. Means of the kind described, comprising a support having a curled edge and a series of notches of a given pitch formed in such edge, a member also having a. curled edge adapted to slide longitudinally in relation to the first named curled edge and formed with a series of notches of a difit'erent pitch and a connector device adapted to slide within the innermost curled edge and having a catch adapted with rotary movement of the said device to enter any pair of companion notches for the time being in register or to be disengaged therefrom, substantially as described.

6. Means of the kind described, comprising a support having a curled edge and a series of inclined notches of a given pitch formed in such edge, a member also having a curled edge adapted to slide longitudinally in relation to the first named curled edge and formed with a series of reversely inclined notches of a different pitch and a connector device adapted to slide within the innermost curled edge and having a catch adapted with rotary movement of the said device to enter any pair of companion notches for the time being in register, the inclination of the notches exerting a locking action upon the connector.

Signed at London, England, this eleventh day of January 1921.

ARTHUR WRENN LAMBERT. 

